Kawahiru Bout: Setsuna vs Itoku!
Family Members A young woman was walking through a small forest in the cool, crisp night air. She took a long, drawn out breath a sighed. "There's nothing better than a calm night, surrounded by nature." She said to no one in particular. She turned to face a tree. "I'm sure you must agree. I can feel your energy around, there's no reason to hide." "Hm? What's that...?" A young woman, with long crimson hair held in a ponytail and pale blue eyes walked closer to this person, appearing from the clearing, grasping the hilt of her blade. "A girl?" Itoku thought. "Guess she likes the nightime as much as I do." "How come you were following me?" Itoku asked curiously, eyeing the new arrival with her golden eyes. "You smell suspicious. There's something about you...I can't quite put my finger on. Though, I must ask: You prescence feels familiar. Who are you?" Setsuna replied. "I smell suspicious?" Itoku repeated, surprised. "I can't say I've ever heard that before. Moving on, my name is Itoku Kawahiru, current 3rd seat of the 1st Division. May I ask who you are?" "Setsuna Kawahiru, knight of justice." Setsuna responded, proudly. Itoku's liquid gold eyes widened at this, and she couldn't surpress a giggle. "Knight of justice? You think highly of yourself I see." She turned serious for a moment. "However, it's interesting to meet another Kawahiru besides Seireitou-sama." "Seireitou? Ah, that's that son of the Soul King...But I'm going to become stronger than him, than anyone else. So that no-one will have to cry." Setsuna monologued, before realizing she went off-track for a few seconds. "Ahahah, sorry about that, Itoku. It's nice to meet you as well." Itoku let out a small laugh. "Becoming stronger than Seireitou-sama? You dream big, don't you?" "My goals are not merely dreams. They are reality. For everyone, I shall surpass even the Soul King, just watch!" Setsuna optimistically replied, sure of herself. "Oh?" Itoku said, smiling. She extended her hand to the side, and began to gather reiatsu, forming a wakizashi made of what looked like paper. "Would you like to test your strength against me?" Her liquid gold eyes seemed to harden, and they flashed in the moonlight. "If it's a chance to become stronger so that I can uphold justice...I'll take it, no matter the opponent! Get ready, Itoku!" Thrusting her hand out, Setsuna summoned her Zanpakutō, the black, jagged, fierce-looking katana, Hantonghaeng. "I'll be courteous and give you the first move Setsuna-san." Itoku said, smiling as she stood there, holding her paper sword. "Kōshi no Ken!" Almost instantanously, Setsuna swung her blade at her opponent, holding it in a reverse grip. At the instant of the slash, a blast of light was fired from the tip of the blade towards Itoku. A mass of flying paper, similar to Senbonzakura, flew quickly in front of Itoku, blocking the attack. "That move it too slow to keep up with my Geikiri." She swung her blade forward, ordering the paper to fly towards the girl, which they did at high speeds. "My Shikai gives new meaning to the term paper cut." Raising her blade to deflect the flying paper, Setsuna leapt back, before thrusting her arm out at Itoku, chanting "Gaki Rekkō!" Suddenly, Setsuna formed a circle of energy from her palm, before firing blasts of green light from its center in a cage-like formation at her opponent at high speeds. As the green lights deflected her paper, Itoku's eyes looked over the spell. "Every Kidō, even intenstly powerful ones, are weak in a certain way." The girl said as she watched the lights descend. "Let me show you." She pointed her finger at the spell. "Hadō 4, Byakurai." She shot the weak bolt of lightning directly towards the center of the spell, shattering it. For a brief second, Setsuna twitched in disbelief before silently using Shunpo to accelerate foward, attempting to slash Itoku across the chest. Itoku jumped back, using Shunpo to accelerate backwards. At the same time, the mass of flying paper returned to fly towards Setsuna. Being struck by the sheets, Setsuna tumbled to the ground, before catching herself and standing up. "Good move...Though I don't think you'll escape this next one!" Setsuna stabbed her blade into the ground, shouting "Bara no Kanmuri!" With that, giant roses and spiked roses created from light erupted from the ground, aiming to ensnare Itoku with incredible force. "Form!" She ordered, the flying paper quickly forming into a spinning blade as hard as diamon, and began to hack at the roses that were about to attack Itoku. She pushed off from the ground before the roses could get a decent hold on her as the spinning blade continued it's onslaught. She pointed her hand towards Setsuna, releasing a gigantic mass of blue energy, the Hiryugekizokushintenraiho spell that all Kawahiru clan members know, towards Setsuna. Without number or incantation. "Our clan's coming-of-age technique, eh?" Setsuna countered with her own Hiryugekizokushintenraiho, performed without number nor incantation as well. The two waves of reishi and lightning clashed with incredible force. "It's not that easy!" She thought, waving her free hand, the spinning blade of paper whirring towards Setsuna. If she was distracted by their clash, she would be bisected. Nothing Itoku couldn't heal later. "Tsungui." Setsuna quietly chanted, forming an azure diamond-shaped barrier around herself that deflected the paper blade with ease, though a small crack appeared in the barrier. Setsuna allowed Itoku's Hiryugekizokushintenraiho to overpower and blast directly through her body as Tsungui absorbed the blast, causing a large explosion. "What the...?" Itoku began to take precautions, the paper dashing towards her to form a barrier in case the explosion reached her. A spearhead, attatched to a golden chain, shot out at incredible speeds from the dust, aiming to strike Itoku. The paper shield served it's purpose to block the spearhead, and then it began to wrap around it, dashing down toward's the source. "Nenshō." She thought the name of the spell in her head, and then released a massive flame that traveled down the paper and chain. As the flame and paper traveled down the chain, Setsuna, using her reiatsu, threw her halberd to the side hastily, before leaping at Itoku with incredible speed. Setsuna's halberd then swung around to Itoku's back, aiming to pierce the right side of her body, all while still under the effects of Genkiri and Nenshō. "Danku." She murmured, creating a transparent wall between her and Setsuna. The wall cracked under the force of the blow, but served it's purpose in allowing Itoku to get a decent jump back. "My Shikai isn't the most useful thing around." She murmured "But it's still far too early to even attempt Bankai." Kidō however, consumed alot of energy, and was not something she could keep using repeatedly. She needed to find a way to combat this girl without resorting to anything drastic. Leaping back and recalling Hantonghaeng to her hands, Setsuna spun her halberd around before thrusting it into the air, calling out "Hokutoshichisei!" Several pillars of light appeared in the night sky, similar to shining stars. "This attack...It's power rivals that of a meteor!" With a single command, the pillars shot down at Itoku at incredible speeds. Itoku began to chant. "The soul within me that holds one thousand dreams; one thousand hopes; one thousand desires. Become the anchor that holds these dreams down to the physical realm of attainment! Bakudō number 90, Sotokonsekisho!" She formed a blue barrier around herself and expanded it to prevent any of the light pillars from hitting the ground. They shattered on contact, and the barrier lifted. She pointed her finger at Setsuna. "Bakudō 61, Rikujōkōrō." From out of nowehere, several spears of light shot towards Setsuna from several directions. "Ryūsei!" Surronding her body in light, Setsuna dissapeared, leaping over the spears of light and rushing towards Itoku at incredible speed, aiming to strike her with butt of her halberd. Itoku vanished with her own speed, appearing behind Setsuna, swinging her fist towards the back of Setsuna's head. "Your attacks will never reach me again!" As more light amassed on her body, Setsuna dissapeared once again. Even if her opponent were to detect her trajectory, it would be near impossible to catch her, though it would deactivate in a few seconds. Setsuna instantly reappeared behind Itoku and attempted to slice her with her halberd. "Danku!" Itoku summoned the wall around her, and it slowed down the powerful attack that was coming from Setuna, allowing Itoku to escape with a shallow, but still bleeding, cut. She hissed, and used the flying paper she controlled to form several spikes with shot towards Setsuna with a vengeance. "Utsusemi." Setsuna dissapeared, avoiding that which was intended to impale her. Appearing behind her opponent, Setsuna gloated, "There's a reason I'm stronger than you. It's because I'm a knight of justice! Unless you have something to fight for, then it doesn't matter if you're the strongest. What use is power if you can't protect anyone with it?" Itoku smiled, moving back with ease. "I have a simple answer to that. Without someone to protect, you can still train yourself and make sure you're powerful enough for the day you meet that person you'll want to protect." Her spiritual pressure began to rise. "Besides, I am a member of the Gotei 13, 3rd seat of the 1st Division. The ones I protect are the souls in the World of the Living. They are what I shield with my strength." She took a breath. "Bankai." Papier-mâché Itoku's spiritual pressure began to rise. "Bankai." Aside from the explosion of spiritual energy, there was no actual effect, nothing to give any indication that Itoku had achieved a new tier of power. Even her weapon remained the some. "Now Setsuna, come." Setsuna smirked, before gripping her own weapon and screaming "BAN-KAI!" In a flash of light, her attire changed. Setsuna now wears a leopard-print long, revealing dress that is cut to show the entirety of her cleavage and the top part of her stomach. The sleeves of her dress are detached, and she has a giant black ribbon wrapped around her waist. The back of her dress is cut off. Her dress has a slit that goes all the way up to her hip. To complete her attire, she wears black stilettos. "Keikobi." Itoku called the attack order, and the blade extended towards Setsuna at great speed, similar to Shinsō. "Go, Bichnaneun Hantonghaeng!" Setsuna shouted, as her halberd extended at great speeds, not unlike Ichimaru's Shinsō as well, as the two attacks cancelled each other out. "Who'd have thought they'd strike each other at the tip, huh? Some luck." She sneered. "You'd think that." Itoku replied, smirking. Her blade hadn't retracted at all. Keikobi was a technique which piledreishi onto the blade, forming layer of after layer of paper at high speed, making it appear to be extending like Shinsō, though it actually grew. Setting up for the stage for "Keikobi - Taouda." The blade began to make extremly fast stabbing movements, stabbing from multiple directions, all aimed at Setsuna. And Itoku wasn't moving a muscle. The stabs continued to pick up speed and distance, edging closer. "Well, I've been bested. But you forget one important thing, Itoku: A true knight of justice always has a spare plan! Utsusemi!" Setsuna dissapeared, dodging the attacks, but only barely. Appearing high in the sky, she glared down at Itoku, as she thrust her arm into the sky, beginning to prepare a devastating attack. "Funkobi! Improvised." Her blades stopped stabbing, and, by this point, looked like a leaveless tree. She swung her blade up, and then it detached, all the extra length gained detatched, and began to swing upward at Setsuna, actually increasing speed as it flew up. Itoku's attack was too fast for Setsuna's reflexes to register, and as such; the young Kawahiru clanswoman was knocked further into the sky. Quickly catching herself, Setsuna darted down at Itoku, attempting to strike her once again with her halberd. "Keikobi." Itoku pointed her blade to her side and it shot out, but not at Setsuna. Then she swung the now extended and diamond-hard blade upwards, aiming the flat side to knock Setsuna out of the air. Crash. Getting blown out of the air, Setsuna fell to the ground, with her impact causing a large crater. Slowly standing up, she coughed up blood. "D-Damn..." She spat. "Well, you can't hit..." Light amassed around her body. "What you can't see! Ryūsei!" With that, Setsuna shot up at Itoku with speeds similar to that of a meteor, like a shining star in the night sky, attempting to knock her down with a powerful axe kick. "Allow me to show you something similar." She said, becoming immersed in white light, her hair even spiking up a bit. She jumped back with great speed, the ground cracking. It then shattered as Setsuna's kick hit the ground hard. "Bakudō 2, Ōnaminagare." She said, smiling. She was completely immersed in white energy. This spell was always a little different than standard Kidō. Perhaps that was due to it's origins. She swung her blade forward, detaching the added length. It shot forward toward's Setsuna, immersed in the energy that also covered Itoku. "...Gh!" Being knocked away by Itoku's attack, Setsuna's body flailed along the ground, before crashing into a tree. A large slash had appeared on her chest, cutting her top as blood began to seep out of the wound. Slowy standing up, Setsuna thrust her halberd upwards. "Idana Giyaman!" Seven pillars of light began to erupt from the ground in a diamond formation, with the intention of trapping Itoku. "Aid me." She murmured. "Chikobi." In an explosion, the diamond that was forming around her shattered, and she was standing atop the head of an eight-headed, eight-tailed giant serpent. "Setuna, how about we call this draw? Before it winds up going too far?" "I don't think so! A knight of justice never gives up, whatever the odds! So...I'll pour all my strength...Into this move! Get ready!" Setsuna shouted at the top of her voice, before crossing her arms above her head to initiate her final attack. As she prepared to release the attack, all the nearby shadows were are drawn towards her. "Ankoku no Rakuen!" Setsuna then unleashed a black orb with small white lights towards Itoku, similar to the night sky. "That's what I didn't want it to come to!" She hissed, as the snake coiled it's seven heads around the first, protecting Itoku and blocking the attack. "Setsuna, a knight of justice also knows when to stop a fight. We started this fight to see if you could last against me. Suffice to say, you've succeeded." Setsuna fell to her knees once again, exhausted of all her reiatsu. "Ehh...ehh...Y-You still win the match, I-Itoku. I will become a knight of justice, not giving up beforehand was one of my few mistakes. ...But this loss...It's a stepping stone for my victory against you if we meet again. ...Thank you." With that, Setsuna Kawahiru passed out. Itoku frowned, sealing her Zanpakutō back into it's sealed state. She walkd over to Setuna, and pressed her hands to the woman's body, beginning to heal her with Kidō. She had a lot of promise. THE END